Management Considerations for Sagebrush (Artemisia) in the Western United States Bureau of Land Management Purpose ............................................................................ 2 Introduction ........................................................................ 2 Sagebrush Biome Characteristics and Components ......................................... 3 Climate ..................................................................... 3 Vegetation ................................................................... 3 Soils ....................................................................... 4 Biological Soil Crusts .......................................................... 4 Other Factors ................................................................. 5 Taxonomy of Artemisia ............................................................... 6 Taxonomy and Variation ....................................................... 6 Federal Geographic Data Standards ............................................... 6 Management Considerations ........................................................... 7 Ecological Sites ............................................................... 7 Historical Range of Variation .................................................... 7 Density and Extent of Artemisia .................................................. 8 Natural Reestablishment of Artemisia Populations ................................... 9 Fire Management ............................................................. 9 Prescribed Fire .............................................................. 10 Mechanical Treatment ........................................................ 11 Herbicides .................................................................. 12 Livestock Grazing and Browsing ................................................ 12 Native Ungulate Browsing ..................................................... 14 Biological Soil Crusts ......................................................... 15 Spatial and Temporal Considerations Related to Cumulative Effects Analysis ............ 18 Spatial Component ..................................................... 19 Temporal Component .................................................. 19 Acknowledgments .................................................................. 20 References and Literature Cited ....................................................... 21 Appendix A. Summary of Artemisia species and subspecies characteristics, site preferences, and management responses. ........................................................ 33 Appendix B. Microbiotic crust evaluation form and example. ................................ 66 Appendix C. Principles of Cumulative Effects Analysis ................................... 70 Attachment 1-2 Management Considerations for Sagebrush (Artemisia) in the Western United States Bureau of Land Management PURPOSE These management considerations for sagebrush were prepared in response to concerns regarding the long-term loss, degradation, and fragmentation of sagebrush vegetation (Connelly et al. 2000, Wisdom et al. 2000, West and Young 2000) throughout the West and attendant declines in populations of plant and animal species that depend on sagebrush habitats for part or all of their respective life cycles. This document is intended to be a supplemental reference to assist BLM field office staff and managers when authorizing activities that may affect sagebrush communities, and during the revision of land use and activity plans relevant to sagebrush community management. It is not issued as either management direction or agency policy. Instead, it presents a selective summary of current information about the ecology and biology of woody North American sagebrush (Artemisia) taxa and describes how sagebrush plant communities and certain species and sub-species respond to management treatments and disturbances, including fire, livestock grazing and mechanized and chemical restoration practices. The management considerations themselves are recommendations that are more analogous to “best management practices.” While it is essential to understand the biological and ecological effects of management actions upon individual sagebrush species and their associated plant and animal communities, it is equally and perhaps even more important to understand the overall management context within which actions will be considered. Issues of scale in land management have become increasingly significant due to declines in the populations of widely distributed species such as sage-grouse. Accordingly, a discussion of Spatial and Temporal Considerations Related to Cumulative Effects Analysis is included in the management considerations. Selected sagebrush species and subspecies information summaries are presented in Appendix A. As new information about sagebrush and the management of sagebrush ecosystems and habitats becomes available, these management considerations will be revised to incorporate new findings. INTRODUCTION Kuchler (1970) and West and Young (2000) describe sagebrush ecosystems as occupying about1 153 million acres of the western United States, dominating substantial portions of the entire western landscape. Collectively, they comprise the sagebrush biome. A large percentage of the sagebrush biome is on public land managed by both the USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and USDA Forest Service (USFS). Within this document, the terms sagebrush plant communities and sagebrush communities are used interchangeably to refer to the various assemblages of different sagebrush species and associated other shrubs, forbs and grasses. In describing the number and types of sagebrushes, McArthur and his colleagues recognize 11 species and 14 subspecies (McArthur et al. 1998, McArthur and Sanderson 1999, McArthur 1999) . Attachment 1-3 Since settlement of the West began, there has been a substantial reduction in both the quantity and quality of sagebrush ecosystems. Westwide, sagebrush ecosystems and plant communities have been degraded or completely eliminated due to agricultural conversion, livestock grazing, invasions by exotic plants, oil and gas development, mining activities, fire management activities and policies, urban and suburban sprawl, water diversions, stream entrenchment, pinyon pine and juniper encroachment, off- highway vehicle activities, utility lines and corridors, arson, and altered wildfire cycles and fire behavior. Many remaining sagebrush plant communities are at high risk of loss from wildfire as the result of weed infestations and unnatural fuels accumulations. As of 2000, within the Great Basin alone, three million acres of public land had become monocultures of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), an exotic annual that outcompetes most native plants and creates a high wildfire risk. Another 14 million acres are infested with cheatgrass to the extent that conversion to a cheatgrass monoculture is likely inevitable. Fragmentation of sagebrush communities is an additional problem, even for those of higher quality (Hann et al. 1997, Wisdom et al. 2000). West (1999) estimates that about 25percent of the total sagebrush steppe has made the transition to annual grasslands. As devastating as the conversion to cheatgrass monocultures has been, these monocultures are not necessarily the end product facing land managers. Other exotic plants are invading cheatgrass-dominated communities and potentially degrading rangeland health even further (Hann et al. 1997), thus making the eventual restoration of sagebrush communities even more problematic. SAGEBRUSH BIOME CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPONENTS The following is a condensed, generalized description of sagebrush biome characteristics and components. More complete descriptions are contained in West and Young (2000) and Miller and Eddleman (2000). • Climate Sagebrush occurs throughout the West, a region of wide climactic variation. Within this variation, the sagebrush zone is typified by long cool to cold winters, hot, dry summers, and persistent winds. Precipitation, much of which falls in the form of snow at higher elevations, is generally sparse (6 - 16 inches annually) and occurs primarily in fall, winter and spring, • Vegetation As noted earlier, the sagebrush biome encompasses approximately 153 million acres of the western United States. The BLM manages about 70 million acres. Within this biome, there are two major ecosystem types; sagebrush steppe and Great Basin sagebrush (Kuchler 1985). The sagebrush steppe ecosystem is about 44.8 million hectares (110.7 million acres) in size, and is characterized by more mesic, cooler climatic regimes than the Great Basin sagebrush ecosystem, which is about 17.9 million acres (44.2 million acres) (West and Young 2000). Geographic subdivisions of the sagebrush steppe ecosystem are the Columbia Basin, northern Great Basin, Snake River Plain and Wyoming Basin (Miller and Eddelman 2000). Sagebrush in this region is co-dominant with perennial bunchgrasses. Geographic subdivisions of Great Basin sagebrush are the southern Great Basin and Colorado Plateau (Miller and Eddelman 2000). Sagebrush in this region is dominant, with grasses being few and sparse. Attachment 1-4 • Soils Most soils of the sagebrush-steppe are Mollisols which are commonly very dark colored, mineral soils with pH ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline. Most Mollisols within the range of the sagebrush-steppe are in a xeric (summer dry, winter wet) moisture regime and are classified as Xerolls. With